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Monday, January 23, 2006

Using up the odds 'n ends

We have been doing a lot of cookies lately, so I was trying to figure out what I could make that would be a little different. I was fairly certain I wanted to do a drop cookie and had some dried fruit and nuts on hand to use up.

Pistachio and Carrot Cake Cookies are filled with shredded carrots, plump golden raisins, and toasted pistachios. The cookies have a soft and tender texture to them, but they don't fall apart at all. They are slightly chewy, not overly sweet and the pistachios lend a unique flavor and crunch to them. I could see doing a powdered sugar glaze with some orange juice to thin or to make them decadent, you could do a cream cheese frosting/filling and sandwich a couple of them together. However, to me these are just as good plain!

Dinner tonight was a very filling salad. Chicken, Red Potato, and Asparagus salad with Toasted Almonds has a light, refreshing and lemony dressing. You could use a rotisserie chicken to cube up, but I just simply grilled off some chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper. The red potatoes are cooked until just tender so they are easy to quarter and the asparagus is quickly blanched to intensify the color.

The nutty flavor from the almonds was a great pair to the asparagus. Next time, I might even candy the almonds first to give them a boost in texture and flavor. When I asked Jeff what he thought, I got a "So when can we have this again...?" I agree!

Not particularly on topic, but. . .Do you have a recipe for a soft cookie that uses pumpkin and poppy seed? I used to have one, and my family really enjoyed it. Alas, a house fire wiped out the recipe files and I have never been able to find one since. Would really appreciate it, if you happen to know of one!

Oops...that last 'michelle' was me, micki! I was just catching up on what you've been up to the last couple of days and wow, have you been busy! The pizza looks very decadent, and I'm especially excited to see what treat you're making for Joe's office on Wednesday, all of that fruit looks sooo good with all the wintery weather and less-than-exciting produce we've been getting here! Did you like Million Dollar Baby? We loved it - but boy, did I cry like a baby!

You know what? You really should have gotten into the finals as new food blogger of the year (on Accidental Hedonist). Your stuff is great! I get hungry everytime I look at your pictures and your writing is great!